February 2017

There’s a lot of exciting stuff going on in technology this semester. The 2/3 classes are working on their research skills. We’ve been working on using keywords in search engines to find information online. Our next project is to create an ABC’s of Inventions book using Storyjumper. Each student was assigned one or 2 letters of the alphabet. They have to find an invention that starts with that letter and create a page of a book that will give information about the invention.
The 4/5 classes just finished up their Pure Michigan videos, and they turned out great! You can learn about some great places in Michigan and check out their videos on this interactive map! Either click on pinned locations to view the videos, or click the down arrow next to “All Items” under teacher names to view videos by individual students. Here’s the link to the map!

Middle schoolers just finished up their 5 Minutes in History podcasts. They used soundtrap.com to record their scripts and add music and effects. They did a nice job on them! Next up for Middle School is researching a job in the STEM field and completing a creative project to present the career they chose.

The middle school elective this semester is a coding adventure. Students will learn about the uses of several different programming languages, and then pick one to learn the basics of and write programs in. They can choose from any of the languages listed on Codeacademy. Students in this elective who are also on the brand new First Tech Challenge team will be able to work on their Java programs for the tournament in May.